Arlington city leaders voted Tuesday to nominate Aubrey City Council member Mike Browning to the Texas Municipal League's board of directors. The move follows a delay by the Denton City Council last week, according to the Denton Record-Chronicle.
Denton council members cited an Oct. 13 email from a former law enforcement officer. The email described previous criminal charges against Browning's opponent, incumbent Mary Sarver, who is also mayor pro tem of Grandview. According to the email, Sarver was charged in Johnson County with two counts of Medicaid fraud and later pleaded no contest to those counts. It also said she had been previously indicted on a charge of criminal attempt injury to a child.
Arlington Mayor Jim Ross addressed the allegations in a work session before Tuesday's meeting. "This information that we have here, at least, gives me tremendous pause on [Sarver]," Ross said. The council then took a 10-minute recess to review the information before the draft resolution naming Browning passed unanimously. Sarver has served as the league's Region 8 director for two years and is running unopposed for a Grandview City Council seat.